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39th Coxgrrss, ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ( Mis. Doc 
1st Session. ) ( No. 110. 



BANCROFT AND EARL RUSSELL. 



LETTER 



(lEORGE BANCROFT, ESQ.,. 

DIRECTED TO HON. E. B. WASHBURNE, CHAIRMAN, ETC., 

TKAXSMITTIXG 

Correspondence tcitli Earl llusiell rclatice to a 'portion of ike memorial ad- 
dress on Abraham Lincoln, delivered before both houses of' Congress. 



May 7, 18Gt3. — Referred to the Joint Select Committee ou the death of Mr. Lincoln aud 

ordered to be printed. 



New York, Mai/ 3, ISGG. 

?IR : Having, iu conformity with the request of Congress through its joint 
committee, delivered before them a memorial address on Abraham Lincoln, 
and Earl Russell having written a letter to deny some of my allegations, I deem 
it but an act of justice to transmit to you a copy of Earl Russell's letter and of 
my reply, and of the documents on which my allegation and his denial were 
founded. I request you to lay these papers before the joint committee of Con- 
gress, and I leave them at their disposition. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

GEORGE BANCROFT. 
Hon. Elihl' B. Washburxe, of Illinois, 

Chairmati on the part of the House of the 

Joint Committee of Congress, ^c. 



Papers enclosed. 

1. Earl Russell to Mr. Adams, February 28, 186G. 

2. Mr. Bancroft to Mr. Adams, in reply to Earl Russell, March 23, 1866. 

3. Lord J. Russell's letters of May 6, 1861, to Earl Cowley and to Lord 
Lyons. 

4. Extract of Lord J. Russell's speech iu the House of Commons, May 30, 
ISGl. 



Lord Russell to Mr. Adams. 

Chesham Place, February 28, 1866. 

Dear Mr. Adams: I observe iu the "Daily News" of yesterday extracts 
from a speech of Mr. Bancroft, delivered in the House of Representatives on 
the 12th instant. 

In this speech Mr. Bancroft is represented to have said, referring to the 
breaking out of the civil war: 



2 BANCROFT AND EAEL RUSSELL. UnCOlnlafla 

" The British secretary of state for foreign affairs made haste to send 
word through the palaces of Europe that the great republic was in its agony ; 
that the republic was no more ; that a headstone was all that remained cfue by 
the law of nations to ' the late Union.'" 

As Avords pronounced on such an occasion and by so eminent a man as Mr. 
Bancroft may have an effect far beyond the injury which my personal character 
might suffer, I must request you to convey to Mr. Bancroft my denial of the 
truth of his allegations, and to refer him to iacts of a totally opposite character. 

Soon after the news of the resistance in arms of the southern States to the 
government of the Union arrived in this country, a member of the House of 
Commons stated in his place that the bubble of republicanism had burst. 

I replied, in the same debate, that the bubble of republicanism had not burst; 
and that if the curse of slavery still hung about the United States, it was 
England who had made them the gift of the poisoned garment which was now 
their torment. 

In fact, I have never had any doubt that, whether the United States con- 
sented to separation or pursued the war to extremity, the great western republic 
would remain, happily for the world, a powerful and independent republic. 

The authors of the Declaration of Independence in declaring for separation 
from Great Britain, after enumerating their complaints of her conduct, go on to 
say: "We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our 
separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in 
peace friends." 

That we should >een emies in war is easily understood ; but v/hen we are at 
peace, v/hy should we not be friends, as the great men of the American Revolu- 
tion intended us to be ? If they, in the moment of separation and of war, looked 
forward to a period of peace and of friendship, Avhy should we, more than three 
quarters of a century after these events, keep up sentiments of irritation and 
hostility founded on a mistaken apprehension of facts, and tending to lay the 
foundation of permanent alienation, suspicion, and ill Avill ? 

As Mr. E mcroft's speech is likely to have very extensive publicity, I reserve 
to myself the power of making public this letter at such time as I shall judge 
fit. 

I remain, my dear Mr. Adams, your ftiithful servant, 

RUSSELL. 

P. S.— I subjoin an extract of my speech on the 30th of May, ISGl, as reported 
in Hansard's Debates. 



Mr. Bancroft to Mr. Adams, in reply. 

New Yokk, March 23, 1866. 
My Dear Mr. Adams: I have received from you, by Lord Russell's desire. 
a copy of his letter to you of 28th February last, in which he denies the truth 
of certain allegations in my address to Congress on the 12th of the same month. 
The passage which he cites contains these three allegations : That, as Brrtish 
secretary of state for foreign affairs, he viewed this republic as " tlie late 
TJnion;'' that he sent this view of our country through the palaces of Europe ; 
and that he made haste to do so. When Lord Russell calls to mind the author- 
ity for these statements, he must acknowledge them to be perfectly just and true. 
On the sixth day of May, 1861, Lord John Russell, then secretary of state 
for foreign affairs, wrote a despatch to Lord Lyons, in which he describes the 
condition of America as ''the disruption of a coifederacy," and he further used 
these words : " Civil war has broken out heln-ecn the several States of the late 



BANCROFT AND EAEL RUSSELL. O 

Union. The qoccrnment of the soutJicm portion has duly constituted itself. 
Her Majcsti/'s government do not wish i/nu. to mahc any mystery of that view}'' 
Here is irrefragable proof of my first allegation. 

On the day on wliieli tlie minister of the Qneen thus wrote, he addressed a 
despatch to Lord Cowley, her Majesty's ambassador at Paris, designating our 
republic as " the States which lately composed the American Union" " tJie late 
United States," "the late Union;" and he enclosed in that despatch, for Lord 
CoAvley's instruction, a copy of th ■ above-cited letter to Lord Lyons. Having 
thus ostentatiously communicated his view of our country as " tJie late Union," 
he asked, in return, '• to he ?nade acquainted loitli the views of the imperial gov- 
crnmentr My second allegation is, therefore, true in letter and in spirit. 

That Lord John Russell, as secretary of state, was in haste to do this, ap- 
pears from his not having awaited the arrival of the American minister of Mr. 
Lincoln's appointment, and from those very letters of the 6th of May, ISfJl, to 
Lord Cowley and to Lord Lyons; for in those letters he confesses that he had 
not, as yet, " received from Lord Lyons any report of the state of affairs and 
of the jnospects of the several parties;" bat that, on coming to the decision 
which was so momentous and unprecedented, he actel on the reports of "some 
consuls," and "of the puhlic prints." 

It is true that twenty-four days after Lord John Russell h id officially de- 
scribed our country as " the disruption of a confederacy," " the late United 
States," " the late Cfnion," he reproved a member of the House of Commons for' 
openly exulting " that the great republican huhhle. in Ame?-ica had burst; and 
owned. " that the repuhlic had been for many years a grcal and free State;" 
but he uttered no expectation or hope of the restoration of our Union, and 
rather intimated that the Americans yvei-e " ahout to destroy each other's liap- 
■piness and freedom" Lord John, on that occasion, rightly attributed the re- 
bellion to the *' accursed institution of slavery," and confessed that England Avas 
the giver of " the poisoned gar?}icnt ;" that the former governments of Great 
Britain were " themselves to hlame for the origin of the evil." But this confes- 
sion must be interpreted by the light of his averments on the 6th of May, 1861, 
and by Lord Russell's later assertion, that the efforts of our country Avere but a 
contest for "empire." 

In speaking to the American Congress of the life and character of Abraham 
Lincoln, it Avas my unavoidable duty to refer to the conduct of the British 
government to\vards our country during his administration, for notiiing so 
wounded his feelings, or exercised his judgment, or tried his fortitude. 

I was asked to address the two houses of our Congress, and those only. 
When I learned that the British minister at Washington was likely to be one of 
my hearers, I requested Mr. ScAvard to advise him not to be present; and 
through another friend I sent him a similar message, AA^hich he recei\'ed and 
perfectly understood. 

I need not recall Avords of ninety years ago, to be pursuaded that in peace 
America and the United Kingdom should be friends. I have a right to say 
this ; for Avhen in the public service I proved it by public acts ; and as a private 
citizen I have ncA'er Avished our government to demand of a foreign power any- 
tlikig but justice. 

Pray send Lord Russell a copy of this letter, AA'hich he is at liberty to publish ; 
and 1 consider myself equally at liberty to publish his letter, to Avhich this is a 
reply. 

I am ever, my dear ilr. Adams, A'ery truly yours, 

GEO. BANCROFT. 



4 BANCROFT AND EARL RUSSELL. 

[North Ameiica, No. 'S. — Presented to Parliament, 1862.-* LXIL] 
Lo?f! J. Russell to^Earl Cowley. 

Foreign Office, May 6, 1861. 
My Lord : Altbongli her Majesty's government have received no despatches 
from Lord Lyons by the mail which has just arrived, the communication between 
Washington and New York being interrupted, yet the accounts Avhich have 
reached them from soytie of her Majesty's consuls, coupled icith what has ap- 
peared in the pnhlic 2>ri7its, are sufficient to show that a civil war has broken 
out among the States which lately composed the Ameiican Union. 

Other nations have, therefore, to consider the light in which, Avith reference 
to that war, they are to regard the confederacy into which the southern States 
have united themselves; and it appears to her Majesty's goveiiiment that, look- 
ing at all the circumstances of the case, they cannot hesitate to admit that such 
confederacy is entitled to be considered as a belligerent, and, as such, invested 
with all the rights and prerogatives of a belligerent. 

1 have stated this to Lord Lyons in the despatch of which I enclose a copy 
for your excellency's information. 

In making known to M. Thouvenel the opinion of her Majesty's government 
on this point, your excellency will add that you are instructed to call the atten- 
tion of the French government, to the bearing which this unfortunate contest 
threatens to have on the rights and interests of neutral nations 

On the one hand, President Lincoln, in behalf of the northern portion of the 
late United States, has issued a proclamation declaratory of an intention to 
subject the ports of the southern portion of the late Union to a rigorous block- 
ade; on the other hand President Davis, on behalf of the southern portion 
of the late Union, has issued a proclamation declaratory of an intention to 
grant letters of marque for cruisers to be employed against the commerce of 
the north. 

In this state of things it appears to her Majesty's government to be well 
deserving of the immediate consideration of all maritime powers, but more 
especially of France and England, whether they should not take some steps to 
invite the contending parties to act upon the principles laid down in the 2d 
and 3d articles of the declaration of Paris of 1856, which relates to the secu- 
rity of neutral property on the high seas. 

The United States, as an entire government, have not acceded to that decla- 
ration; but in practice they have, in their conventions with other poAvers, 
adopted the 2d article, although admitting that without some such conventio n 
the rule was not one of universal application. 

As regards the 3d article, in recent treaties concluded by the United States 
with South American republics, the principle adopted has been at variance with 
that laid down in the declaration of Paris. 

Your excellency will remember that when it Avas proposed to the government 
of the United, States, in 1856, to adopt the Avhole of the declaration of Paris, 
they, in the first instance, agreed to the second, third, and fourth proposals, but 
made a condition as to the first that the other poAvers should assent to extcjad- 
ing the declaration so as to exempt all private property Avhatever from capture 
on the high seas ; but before any final decision Avas taken on this proposal, the 
government of President Buchanan, Avhich in the interval had come into poAver, 
Avithdrew the pro2)osition altogether. 

It seems to her Majesty's government to be deserA'ing of consideration Avhether 
a joint endeaA^or should not noAv be made \o obtain from each of the belligerents 
a formal recognition of both principles as laid doAvn in the declaration of Paris, 
so that such principles .shall be admitt' 1 by both, as they have been admitted 



BANCROFT AND EAEL RUSSELL. 5 

by the powers who made or acceded to the declaration of Pariti, henceforth to 
form part of the general law of nations. 

llcr jMajesty's government would be glad to be made acquainted with the 
views of the imperial government on this matter with as little delay as possible. 
1 am, &:c., 

J. RUSSELL 



No. 2. 
Lord J. Russell to Lord Lyons. 

FoREKiN Office, May 6, ISGl. 

Mv Lord : Her ^lajesty's government are disappointed in not having received 
from you, by the mail which has just arrived, any report of the state of affairs 
and of the prospects of the several parties, with reference to the issue of the 
struggle which appears imfortunately to have commenced between them ; but 
the interruption of the communication between Washington and New York 
sufficiently explains the non-arrival of your despatches. 

The account, however, which her ^Lajesty's consuls at different ports were 
enabled to forward by the packet coincide in showing that, whatever may be 
the final result of what cannot now be designated otherwise than as the civil 
war which has broken out between the several States of the late l\\io.\, for 
the present at least those States have separated into distinct confederacies, and, 
as such, are carrying on war against each other. 

The question for neutral nations to consider is, what is the character of the 
war ; and whether it should be regarded a.s a war carried on between parties 
severally in a position to wage war, and to claim the rights and to perform the 
obligations attaching to belligerents ? 

Iter Majesty's government consider that the question can only be answered 
in the affirmative. If the government of the northern portion of the late union 
possesses the advantages inherent in long established governments, the govern- 
ment of the southern portion has, nevertheless, duly constituted itself, and carries 
on in a regular form the administration of the civil government of the States of 
which it is composed. 

Her Majesty's government, therefore, without assuming to pronounce upon 
the merits of the question on which the respective parties are at issue, can do 
no less than accept the facts presented to them. They deeply deplore the dis- 
ruption of a confederacy with which they have at all times sought to cultivate the 
most friendly relations ; they view with the greatest apprehension and concern the 
misery and desolation in Avhich that disruption threatens to involve the provinces 
now arrayed in arms against each other ; but they feel that they cannot question 
the right of the southern States to claim to be recognized as a belligerent, and, 
as such, invested with all the rights and prerogatives of a belligerent. 

I think it right to give your lordship this timely notice of the view taken by 
her Majesty's government of the present state of affairs in North America, and 
far Majesty's government do not wish you to make any mystery of that view. 

I shall send your lordship, by an early opportunity, such further information 
on these matters as may be required for your guidance ; at present I have only 
to add that no expression of regret that you may employ at the present dis- 
astrous state of allairs will too strongly declare the feelings with which her 
Majesty's government contemplate all the evils which cannot fail to result 
from it. 

I am, &:c„ 

J. RUSSELL. 



BANCROFT AND EARL RUSSELL. 



Extract of Lord Joint RasseWs speech in the House of Coimiions, May 30, 1861. 

^Ij honorable friend, tlie member for the west riding- of Yorkshire, alluded the 
other night to one subject in a tone which I was very sorry to hear used by any 
one. My honorable friend said that "the great republican bubble in America had 
burst." Now, sir, I am proud to confess — I may be subject to correction — but 
for my part, when I find that a dark and tyrannical despotism has been abol- 
ished, and that people are likely to enjoy free government in its place, I rejoice. 
It is my duty to represent her Majesty as friendly to all existing states; but if 
a despotic government fall, and the people who are subject to it are likely to 
obtain a better and freer government, I cannot conceal that it gives me satisfic- 
tion a,nd that I sympathize with them. But I own I have very different feelings 
when a great republic, which has enjoyed for seventy or eighty years institu- 
tions under which the people have been free and happy, enters into a conflict 
in v/hich that freedom and happiness is placed in jeopardy. I must confess 
the joy which I felt at the overthrow of some of the despotisms of Italy is counter- 
balanced by the pain which I experience at the events which have lately taken 
place in America. I admit that I have thought, and that I still think, that in this 
country we enjoy more real freedom than the United States have ever done. I 
admit also that the great founders of that republic, wise and able men as they 
Avere, had not the materials at hand by which they could interpose, as we are 
able to do in this country, the curb and correction of reason, in order to re- 
strain the passionate outbursts of the popular will. Yet we cannot be blind 
to the fact that the republic has been for many years a great and free state, ex- 
hibiting to the world the example of a people in the enjoyment of wealth, hap- 
piness, and freedom, and affording bright prospects of the progress and improve- 
ment of mankind. When I reflect that the reproaches which are cast by the 
States of the north upon the States of the south, and the resistance which they 
have called forth have arisen from that accursed institution of slavery, I cannot 
but recollect also that with our great and glorious institutions we gave them that 
curse, and that ours v/ere the hands from which they received that fatal gift of 
the poisoned garment v/liich was flung around them from the first hour of their 
establishment. Therefore, I do not think it just or seemly that there should be 
among us anything like exultation at their discord, and still less that we should 
reproach them with an evil for the origin of which we ourselves are to blame. 
These are the feelings with which I heard the remarks of my honorable friend 
the other night, and I must say that I believe the sentiments which he expressed 
form an exception to the general impression in England. Indeed, I think 
nothing could be more honorable to our country than the prevailing pain and grief 
which have been occasioned by the prospect of that great and free people being 
about to rush into arms to destroy each other's happiness and freedom. 



